Bubble Therapy
by Ira-Grace White
Summary: One night Bobby is struggling with temptation. As he battles against his addiction, he meets Tara, who introduces him to a new type of therapy. But who will end up helping the other?


**This is a story for all of my readers who have been asking for stories with Bobby and Tara. I love those guys. This story is one of those little ideas that came to me. I just hope that you all will enjoy! I did. (Can you see Bobby and Tara having a meeting like this? Please comment and let me know your ideas and opinions!) Thank you to all who read. And finally, enjoy!**

Bobby paced back and forth in his living room. The desire to gamble was so strong and there was no one to help him fight it. Darcy was in LA; and the only friend that he trusted with the truth, Jack, was unreachable on both his cell phone and home phone. There was no one to help him fight and he did not have enough strength to fight the desire himself. Bobby abruptly stopped his pacing and pulled on his coat, then rushed out the front door into the early September evening. He walked rapidly over the cracked sidewalk. He knew that he was walking straight toward the nearest casino. He also knew that he did not want to be walking there. It seemed impossible to turn away, but he knew that he could not disappoint Jack or himself by giving in once again to the addiction that had held in captivity for so long. There had to be a way to escape it. Just then he reached the entrance to a city park.

 _There. I'll walk here for a bit. Maybe I'll be able to forget gambling for a bit_ , Bobby thought to himself as he turned into the park and began striding along one of the paths. Most people came to parks like this to relax, he realized. His frantic pace would confuse any bystanders, but he was hoping that it would help keep him distracted. He wound around the paths in record time, trying to think about the leaves beginning to change colour and the warm evening light instead of the rattle of dice and a deck of cards. Just then he noticed someone sitting on a picnic table facing the sunset. Her back was toward him but Bobby was fairly sure that he recognized that silhouette. _Tara._

He watched her for a moment. She was looking away from him and as he watched she did something that bemused and confused him. She was blowing bubbles and energetically popping them as soon as she blew them.

"What is that sheila doing?" Bobby asked himself, then walked over to her, his temptations forgotten for the moment.

"Hey, sheila, what are you doing?" he asked walking up. Tara jumped and twisted around on her perch on the picnic table.

"Bobby! You scared me half to death!" she gasped and blushed.

 _She really is quite cute when she does that. Darcy never looked quite the way. She was always stunningly gorgeous, not simply, sweetly beautiful._

"What are you doing here?" Tara asked when she caught her breath. She seemed to notice just then that she was holding a bottle of bubbles and set them down on the table next to her, looking as if she hoped that Bobby had not noticed them.

"Just walking. What are you doing?"

"Um, well," Tara stumbled over her words, apparently embarrassed. "I was just..." She looked up at him. "I'm actually here to release some frustration and...stuff."

"With bubbles?" He asked, half seriously, half teasingly. He loved watching her blush like that. She was adorable when she was flustered.

"Yes," she said reluctantly, ducking her head. "Laugh away. At least I'm not venting my emotions by going crazy and shooting up all of D.C.."

"There is that," Bobby said. "On behalf of the law enforcement of D.C., thank you for you noble restraint."

"I'm not really joking, Bobby," Tara said, huffing a bit.

 _I've hurt her feelings. Just great, Manning - the one constant sunbeam in your life and you managed to offend her, apparently on a bad day for her. No wonder Darcy left without you. You're not really a great comforter_. He looked over a Tara and noticed that she was trying to discreetly wipe away a tear that had sneaked down her cheek.

"I'm sorry, Tara. I didn't mean to joke about any of your problems. I can sympathize - life is pretty hard some days." He motioned to the bubble. "So, tell me about your bubble therapy. Does it work?"

Tara gave him a wan smile, then nodded. She opened the bottle, pulled out the wand, and blew a stream of bubbles before answering. She seemed to calm down while looking at the fragile, sparkling spheres floating around her.

"It's silly, but I found out years ago that it doesn't do any good to hurt yourself or anyone else while you're upset about something. And that was around the time that I found, thanks to my aunt suggesting it, that blowing bubbles actually helped me calm down. I don't drink or smoke or gamble or stab people - there all either dangerous to me or to someone else - so instead I find a quiet place which I believe to be far away from all people that I know and blow bubbles until I'm ready to go on with life."

Bobby had felt as if his heart froze when Tara mentioned gambling. _Does she know? How could she?_ But looking at her face, so intent on her own ideas and thoughts, he realized that it was just a coincidence. She was not referring to him. Relieved, he took a seat next to her and asked, "Do you have any extra bubbles?"

Tara tilted her head and looked at him, apparently trying to figure out if this was a joke or if he was serious.

"I'm not joking. I'm here because of troubles too, and if bubbles work for you, maybe they could help me," Bobby said. Tara smiled, though her smile was missing its normal sparkle. She pulled another bottle of bubbles from her jacket pocket and handed them over.

"I just blow the bubbles and pop them, pretending that I'm popping all of my problems," she said softly before returning to blowing her own bubbles.

 _This is a bit silly_ , Bobby thought to himself. _But at least while I'm doing this I'm not at a casino. And Tara isn't herself tonight. Perhaps at least I can be here for her._ He clumsily opened the bottle and blew some bubbles, tossing a look at Tara to see if she was watching him. She was not. To his surprise, she was totally absorbed in blowing bubbles and vehemently popping them. _Good thing that she does this. She does seem upset enough to do some damage on a bloke if she took it into her mind to do so._

They sat together for nearly fifteen minutes in silence, each blowing bubbles and popping them. Bobby was energetic at first as he worried about gambling and Darcy, but he eventually forgot those emotions as he sneaked glances at the woman next to him. In the autumn sunset light she was quite charming and childlike as she blocked the whole world out and focused only on the bubbles. She even seemed to have forgotten that he was there. Whatever was bothering her had to be bad. She frowned fiercely as she popped several more bubbles. Ironically, Bobby could not think of a time where he had seen Tara more upset than now as she blew bubbles. He noticed a tear trickle down her cheek. Finally he broke the silence.

"Tara, what's the matter?" She started with her familiar coming-back-to-earth dazed look that had become so familiar after working with her for so long. But this time no smile at noticing a friend or excitement from a new discovery or idea streamed across her face. This time there was only pain.

"Nothing," she muttered. Bobby waited. Tara was a chatterbox most of the time, but not when she was very upset. From his limited experience he knew that waiting for her to get started was all that was necessary. She went back to blowing bubbles, then suddenly dropped the bottle and hid her face in her hands.

"Stanley left," she muttered quietly. Then she started shaking with sobs.

"Where did he go?" Bobby asked, clueless.

"I mean, he's gone - for good," Tara said, sitting up and staring Bobby straight in the eye. "I'm not good enough - once again. Apparently the gossip that I'd heard was true -there's a sweet little tech girl in Nevada where he was working for a bit, and she stole his heart. Stanley, gentleman that he is, decided that he needed to end our relationship because he couldn't be sincere since he liked Fiona. Once again, I'm cast off. You'd think by now I'd be used to it, wouldn't you? But no, of course my heart feels like its dying -again," Tara spat out bitterly. Bobby was taken aback. Tara never was angry. This was not like her. He was worried. Suddenly Tara's face crumpled. "I wasn't good enough, Bobby. I'm never good enough." She leaned against him and sobbed, heart-breaking sobs shaking her entire small frame. Bobby awkwardly put his arm around her shoulder and hugged her to him. Poor Tara. She did not deserve this. As much as it had hurt him to lose Darcy he knew that this cut a lot deeper with Tara. He did not know all of her past, but her pitiful "once agains" were real. This wasn't the first time she had been hurt by someone who should have loved her. _He should have loved her the way that I would have loved her_ , Bobby thought, then suddenly froze. _Where did that thought come from? But it is true - I wouldn't hurt her, the little sheila. But - I have. I know I did that day after the concert. I did love Darcy at the time, but she walked away. I just wish that I could take all the pain for Tara - she doesn't deserve it. I should probably try blowing more bubbles, or I'll go track down that Stanley and beat him up._

"I really don't blame him," Tara whispered. "He was doing the honourable thing and I do want him to be happy. I'm just sad that I had to get hurt in the process. Sounds pretty selfish, doesn't it?"

"Not at all," Bobby said, patting her back. _I'm glad that I was here tonight._

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to break down like that. I was just..." Tara sat up and pulled away slowly from Bobby. He looked at her eyes, still full of tears and pain. He only wished that he could do something to ease that pain.

"That's fine. I'm glad to be of a service," he said. His voice shook a bit. He was very glad. Hopefully Tara would not notice. It would not be fair to her to let her know that he was interested, not now, not when her heart was broken.

"Do you...would you like a hot dog?" he asked clumsily as Tara gathered her bubble bottle from the ground, wiped it off with some grass, and put it into her pocket. She looked up and Bobby hoped that the tiny sparkle he saw was not just his imagination.

"Sure. I love hot dogs," she said.

"I know," Bobby said. Together they strolled back out of the park and walked until they found a street vendor. Bobby bought two hot dogs. The two ate together under a street lamp, the light flooding down on them, giving light to the darkening evening. Bobby enjoyed watching Tara's step liven and her cheeks dry as she laughed and munched away on her hot dog, managing to get relish on her pants, mustard on her nose, and ketchup all over her fingers as she giggled at his jokes. After they finished the hot dogs Bobby offered to walk Tara home. It did not even bother him that Tara's house was in the same direction as the casino.

They reached Tara's house just as the first stars began to shine out.

"Thanks, Bobby," Tara said, turning to him at her walkway. "I...well, I really appreciate it. I needed someone there for me and I was too shy to go to any of my friends. I'm so glad that one of them ended up coming to me." She paused. "Why were you there anyway? I didn't know that you went there."

Bobby cleared his throat. "I was battling some things of my own."

"Oh. Are you okay now?" Her concern touched his heart deeply.

"Yes." _I'm okay in more ways than one, my little Tara._

"Good." Another pause. "Well, I guess I'll see you in the morning." She still didn't move."

 _It is too early to say anything, but I will say something as soon as it is wise._ Bobby took Tara's hand and gently kissed it. Tara's eyes widened as he released her hand.

"Good night." _My little love._

"Good night," she whispered, then turned and entered her house. Before she closed the door she turned back to wave. She was genuinely smiling.

Bobby waited until he heard the door click closed, then slowly turned. Thoughts were flooding his head once again. He had to walk them out. He felt the small plastic bottle of bubbles in his pocket. He laid his hand against it as he walked. This time he was walking straight home. The thoughts in his head had changed significantly. No more gambling tempted him. Only Tara mattered now. And he would win her eventually.


End file.
